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moos,Do you have a teacher? You could ask your teacher for help. I think there are practices design just for that. I self teach so I don't know any resources to point you to. I also found it helpful just to practice those chord progressions. Not looking at the song or any notes, I just practiced going from G to C back to G then D7 and vise versa, all kinds of rotations very slow at first until it's smooth then increase spead. It could help... Practice... Practice... Practice... You'll get it down before you know it. We all went through that bump. Keep it up.

When I play that song, it was just a lot of repetitions. I think it's one of those first songs that actually sounds like music. I felt so good that I finally play some music and I just kept on practicing, over and over. I did all the ways the book suggests, 8 octave higher, lower, moving all over the place. I think I spent at least 2-3 weeks with it. I even go back many times after I have moved on. It was fun and somewhat instinctively hitting those notes after so many repetitions.

Congrats Barb I hope to see you in the 2nd book soon then. Still waiting for it to arrive here so I'm working on supplemental pieces but I can almost not wait for the 2nd book to arrive to finally make some good progress.

Hi Nguyen, I am self-teaching as well so don't have a teacher. I took your advice last night and just practiced the chord progressions and that helped a bit! I think I am going to step back even further and just play that chord over and over so I learn the proper strength to hit each key with. That's the hardest part for me because I can definitely move my hand to the proper position but when I actually play the chord the sounds just don't sound at the same time. So I think I will start with just playing the chord over and over and then move to chord progressions and then move to the song.

I also think I will move forward a bit and dabble with the Middle C position for some variety. I will just make sure I keep practicing the D7 every day until I perfect it. Thanks for your help!

I just got back from a trip. Ten days with no piano access. I was able to read the PW forum though, so I could at least read about piano. LOL.

I don't seem to be TOO rusty. I practiced "O Sole Mio" for a while today, and I can do it well MOST of the time. Another day or two and I will put that one on the completed list.

I have to confess that in February I will have been on Book 1 for two years. I don't know of anyone else who has taken this long (so many of my "classmates" have come and gone), and I really would like to finish before then. But these last several songs have really been kicking my butt. I knew when I started this that I would be slow, but I'm a bit disappointed that I have been quite this slow. On the other hand, I would never have believed that I would be playing recognizeable and almost musical piano at all when I started. I could probably rush my way through the rest, but I really want to learn them properly so I have a good base before starting Book 2. I think I'm going to buy Book 2 now though, and keep it on the piano as an incentive to work harder.

Quagles,Nice to see you back here. You should keep on practicing those supplemental pieces and wait for me to move to book 2 together LOL... Just kidding, it'll take me months to get there. Don't forget to check back, a lot of us here need encouragements to achieve what you have.

mooshinator,You're welcome. That would be a great way to tackle it. I think all of us here agree that after practicing that so many times, it'll become second nature, meaning when you see that chord, you hit it right on. I'm looking forward to hearing that you've finally get it. It'll feel really good...

mom3gram,Welcome back. How was your trip? Must be great cuz you don't seem to miss Piano that much LOL.

I am also at "O Sole Mio!". It's my fifth day now on that song and it still doesn't sound the way I like it yet.Do you find its tempo/rhyms difficult? I can play the whole song not missing notes or chords, but my tempo or rhyms aren't consistent. I don't know why. I listen to the CD like 20 times, get back to the Piano, and still my version isn't as smooth. I start out SLOW like the first 3 chords, then everything just keeps increase speed on its own. I can't keep the same rhyms or tempo consistently throughout the song. I hope it will come but right now, it just doesn't sound right, or at least how I like it. I gave myself 2 weeks on this song, it's almost a week now, I have one more to go.

Yeah, I think I remember reading your threads around the time that Key Notes and others, beginning 2008 you started? I could be wrong because I go back and read everything and it's a lot. I remember Key Notes. She self taught and she posted almost everyday. How's she doing do these days you know?

Anyway, 2 years is ok. I don't think that's bad. I figure there are what 70 something songs in the book right? If we do 1 per week, that comes out to about 70-80 weeks. That's about a year and a half. Some from this thread did it in 4 months I think, some 6 months, I would like to be able to do mine in a year. If I can do better great, but I don't rush because when I started, I told myself this thing is growing old with me, so no matter how long, doesn't matter. What matters is, this Holiday Season, I can play some music. Last Holiday Season? I played zip music. It's a great feeling mom. Keep it up. I'm rooting for you to move on by Feb.

I don't think you should feel disappointed that you've spent the time you did so far learning. As you said yourself, it is pretty amazing that you (and even myself) are able to play some of the songs that the book offers. Tell me to play some of this stuff before I started this book and I would've thrown that book to the other side of the room. lol.Although the destination is important, I also believe the journey is as well.

With that said, I'm not so sure if maybe my pace is going a little bit too fast. Went from beautiful brown eyes to standing in the need of prayer which is about 10 pages just last night (also learned fur elise level one on the side). I've been using PianoNoobAlex's videos on youtube and a metronome to keep me in check since I can't find a teacher in my area and if I'm able to play them at the correct rhythm and tempo for x-amount of times, the pages keep turning. Am I going about this the wrong way and need to slow it down?

I am not qualified to give advise because I am a newbie myself. For me, I give myself 1 song per week or 1 book per year just so I am relaxed practicing without pressure. My logic is, if I set goal too high, say 6 months to complete this book, whatif I can't achieve that? I think I will feel pressured and pressure leads to rush. I wouldn't be able to enjoy practice. My practice will probably not be as complete because I will want to move on just to finish the book. There are a lot of reasons why I give myself plenty of time (one year per book). The one thing I always remind myself everytime I seem to rush is "slow down, don't worry what you can achieve this Christmas. 5 years from now, look back and see where you're at, not next month or next year". I always remind myself that. It's hard. It takes a lot of patience to stick to that simple mindset, I admit, but for my own good, I know I have to do it.

You may be born with music talent. You're moving fast but everything is right. Or maybe something ins't right. We won't know unless there's a teacher guiding you. I find practice very time consuming because somewhere in the book, after the first few pages, when it shows us how to count, fingers #, how to recognize the notes, it says something like this: from that point on, practice the songs the way the book has shown you up to that point. Meaning practice beats/tempo (count, claping etc... whichever you like most). Then play the notes based on the counts you just mastered. Once you done that and get it down, play the song as you count its notes. Once that's done, play the song as you read its notes. If there are lyrics, play the song as you sing it. If I do all this, it takes a lot of time. Just to count the notes alone could be as long as one practice session, usually 1 - 1 1/2 hour nightly for me. I must admit I don't do this for every song but I always do it for the harder ones. I think this is why some songs take me a lot longer than others but I'm sticking to what the book suggests and see where it all leads me.

Whatever works for you fanatik, just make sure not to cut corners. The counting, clapping, notes reading out loud and singing, in my own interpretation of the book's intentions, I think, is to help us figure out songs without having to rely on the CD or any form of recordings, when we are good that is, not now, not for a while. LOL. I can figure out an easy song now, without having to listen to the CD, but some songs... man, really kick butt.keep up the good work everyone, and good weekend!

Thanks for the encouragement, Nguyen and fanatik22. Yes, I was here when Key Notes started. I see her posting occasionally on Book 2, and she seems to be doing well. I actually started the same week as AlwaysWantedToPlayPiano, who is now 2/3 of the way through Book 2. At the rate I'm going, he may finish Book 2 before I finish Book 1. LOL

I moved along pretty quickly until "Beautiful Brown Eyes", and then I slowed down. Some songs after that were easy, but most took me a couple of weeks. I think I had trouble with Lullaby, Can Can, Little Brown Jug, as well as a couple of those blues songs. I basically gave up on Good People, but I don't want to give up on anything else. As for "O Sole Mio", yes, the rhythm gave me trouble, as well as all the moving around, and a few of the unusual chords. I still can't play that arpeggiated chord fast enough. I got frustrated, and moved on to Jericho, and the Stranger while I was still learning O Sole Mio. Those went much easier, and I've already completed Jericho, and can play the first half of the Stranger perfectly. Still working on the second half.

As for my trip, it was to see my daughter and her family. I hadn't seen my three grandsons since last Christmas and they kept me really busy, especially the 5-year old who wore me out. He didn't give me a chance to miss piano. I miss those guys, but I'm really glad to be home again.

I use PianoNoobAlex's youtube videos also, even though I have the Alfred CD. I like Alex's versions much better.

I've made good progress on BTMD, but I can't say I'm really playing it as intended yet. I have the notes down for the most part, but I find it really hard to coordinate the legato parts of the right hand with the 'normal playing' of the left hand. This is especially true for the 'and please pay attention and listen to me' part. The legato pieces in the other parts more or less seem to come naturally, but they could use some work as well.

Mooshinator, I'm right where you are (or where you were a couple of days ago, anyway). That right hand D7 gives me fits. It's that stretch to the F# with my thumb, which puts my hand in a weird position. I'm also practicing it slowly -- sometimes I get lucky, but most of the time... eh, not so much.

(My first post here after lurking for a couple of months, by the way. I'll post a proper introduction later on, but I just want to thank everyone here -- this site's been very helpful, and I think I'm at a point where I might be able to join a conversation occasionally.)

Well, I am slowly getting on with the book. The cancan is sounding like a cancan finally, and I am getting on with 'Why am I blue'. I did try 'The little jug' as well, but decided to stop and just keep playing all the other pieces in the book starting with G position as that is where we left at my last lesson.

Also, I am trying to learn one of Bach pieces from another book, and it going very slowly. But I am really enjoying it!

I have got my practice book (Dozen a day) on Saturday and I hope I can keep doing these pre-practice exercises before I actually start playing other pieces every time. Will see how long it will last. I do notice, that if I try to play faster, I just mix-up all the fingers, so exercises are a must!!!!

Quint, I'm almost where you are: I first found Got the Blues odd and ugly until II caught on to the rhythm and now is my favourite piece. Also doing Bach's Minuet (song one) of an easy classicals book. Also on the second piece of Dozen a Day.

The one other book I'm using is Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon 32 piano studies. What amazed me is that these exercises, or some of them, were used by Beethoven to teach his students.

I don't learn every piece fully before moving on. If I "get it" and can play it with few errors and the piece doesn't inspire me I move on. Not sure if that's best, but it keeps me motivated.

Mooshinator, I'm right where you are (or where you were a couple of days ago, anyway). That right hand D7 gives me fits. It's that stretch to the F# with my thumb, which puts my hand in a weird position. I'm also practicing it slowly -- sometimes I get lucky, but most of the time... eh, not so much.

(My first post here after lurking for a couple of months, by the way. I'll post a proper introduction later on, but I just want to thank everyone here -- this site's been very helpful, and I think I'm at a point where I might be able to join a conversation occasionally.)

Hi Karen, it's good to know that this is a common thing to struggle with!

Just yesterday I had a big breakthrough with that chord... for some reason it just clicked and I am now hitting it properly maybe 75% of the time (whereas before it was like... 10% of the time).

One thing that I did that helped was to go one page past Alpine Melody and work on the unnamed song on page 71 of the All-In-One book. That song uses broken D7 chords which I found a little easier to start with. I worked on that song for a few days until I mastered it (including the pedaling and playing the repeat an octave higher).

I also did what Nguyen suggested and practiced just chord progressions going from G to C to G to D7 to G, etc, etc...

Doing both of those for a few days (and playing around with Middle C position a bit when I got frustrated and wanted to try something new) seemed to really help.

Good luck!!! The D7 chord is definitely the hardest thing I've dealt with up to this point in my very short piano learning!

I started "Scarborough Fair" this morning. I'm all thumbs like usual when starting something new, but I can tell that this one is going to be relatively easy and will sound really pretty. I love those broken chords!!! :-) The calm before the storm - because the last four pieces look really, really hard. I'm not going to stress over them until I get there though, as I have my hands full now polishing up the ones I'm working on now. I've retired "O Sole Mio" to the "review once or twice a week" category.

I ordered Book 2 yesterday, and can't wait to look through it. I'm getting excited!

After five or six days of practising I think I have a pretty good handle on Blow the Man Down now. It could still use a bit of polishing, but I'm happy with the way I can play it now. Thankfully the next few songs are a lot easier again, I'm at Cafe Vienna now and after just an hour or two of playing, that one is going very well too.

Also, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps I should get a teacher. Right now no one is telling what I might be doing wrong. I would want one that helps me learn from Alfred tough, this book is really working well for me.

Mooshinator, I'm glad to hear you're doing better with the D7. I did the same thing you did -- I moved on to the Waltz Time exercise a couple of pages after it. I also made a couple of minor adjustments, and I'm feeling more comfortable. It still needs practice, though, so I'll keep working on it.

Meanwhile, this morning I got up to the middle C position and "Good Morning To You." That position's going to take some getting used to. I hope I'm wrong, but the next few pages of the book, up to the Hanon introduction, look like they might be kind of tedious. I don't mind struggling through something if it'll sound interesting when it's done -- but I'm not all that interested in learning how to play "Skip To My Lou." So of course I'm sure it'll be more complicated than it looks, take forever to get right, and I'll be stuck practicing it for days.

I also skipped ahead and took a whack at Blow The Man Down, just for fun. Surprisingly, I didn't have too much trouble with the rhythm -- so now I'm chomping at the bit to get to that page in the book so I can work on it properly.

It's strange -- this impatience has only just kicked in within the last couple of days. I'm not giving in to it, though. I'll take my time and learn this stuff properly. I will. I swear.

Well, I've just finished reading all 96 pages of this thread over the past week and have been so inspired by all of you. I thought I must be the only person on the planet doing Alfred's Basic Adult #1. So I figured I'd join the "Third Wave" of people on this thread. Thanks, Mark for coming up with these Alfred threads! Someone at Alfred's publishing ought to reward him with a "Steinway Model D" for selling so many of their books!!

I bought the Alfred books 1, 2, and 3 (I'm an optimist!) about a month ago. I've played (or played with) guitar for 35 years so at least I had some music knowledge and theory, but getting a piano to sound "good" vs. guitar is a whole "other" matter. I have a nearly 20 y.o. Yamaha YPP-50 which has only 8 note polyphony, so I may be buying something new in the very near future.

Right now, I doing everyone's nemesis BTMD. It's not easy, needless to say! I've been on it for three or four days and it's not coming together for me. The arrangement of it isn't as musical as say "Standing in the Need of Prayer" was, but I certainly realize the importance of learning to play it correctly. It has those notes that have different time values in the left hand than the right and is a kind of foundation piece in teaching the left and right hands to behave more independently. Plus, the fact that you have your right thumb on the D rather than the C further complicates things.

mom3gram - I'm glad you're still here! You are my inspiration! When Bravo does the "Real Talented Housewives of NJ", I know I'll be seeing you! I'm a former Jersey boy, now in NC. Miss the pizza and Taylor Ham!

mom, that's not small accomplishments. The ones you struggle with, we all do. Little Brown Jug has been so far my most difficult. But it feels really good after I overcome it. For O Sol Mio, do you have the CD? I think in the CD, when it gets to the Arpeggiaged chord, which is within the "ritardando" section, it goes really slow. It doesn't have to be at full count. Maybe you can do it slow the way the song is meant to play, not 1,2,3,4 at full count/tempo? Scarborough Fair, One of my fav. I can't wait to get there. I like your retire idea. Maybe I'll do it when I face a tough one; haven't yet but I'm sure it'll happen LOL... I think it'll be the Entertainer.

Physics,Isn't it nice getting it under your hands? I think the song took me about a week. You're doing much better. A teacher always help. If you can afford one, you definitely should.

Karen,I also really like your Signature & Glad you decided to join. I find it very motivating to read and lurk around. Now that I have joined in the conv., I kind of feel some pressure that I have to practice more just to keep up with everyone LOL. I agree with mom3gram, you're the first not intimidated by BTMD. That one gives everyone else issues. Now the D7, the bright side of after mastering the D7 chord is, the next time you come across chords or Notes with a #, it's easier since you're familiar with it already. Is your impatience kicking because of this thread? LOL... It's cute the way you're saying it though.

gintarec,Great progress! The songs after that one will sound much better. You'll enjoy them. They are tougher to nail though.

Gabe,Great, I like those Blue songs too. I didn't like them at first cuz they sound weird, but after I got them down, they sound better. It's strange. Looking forward to your posts. My PC doens't have speakers so I can't promise I'll get to hear them but I'll try my Brother's.

Wow, I spent so much time writing to all of you, now I don't have time to write about me. It feels great seeing everyone enjoying. Wish me luck with “O Sol Mio!” tonight. I'm almost there.

Emissary,I missed your post. When I started mine, yours hasn't popped up yet. You must have tons of patience going through all that 96 pages. I went through them too, on the bus & subway on my way to and from work. I skipped a lot somewhere in the middle though. Too many to squeeze in between work, home & piano. My patience also fails me.

Emissary,I missed your post. When I started mine, yours hasn't popped up yet. You must have tons of patience going through all that 96 pages. I went through them too, on the bus & subway on my way to and from work. I skipped a lot somewhere in the middle though. Too many to squeeze in between work, home & piano. My patience also fails me.

Anway, WELCOME! Have fun with that BTMD

Thanks Nguyen for the encouragement! I like your philosophy about not rushing through everything. I have a tendency to do just that. I'm slowly getting better at Blow the Man Down. I'm sure by the end of the week, I'll be a happier BTMD person. I don't have a teacher at the moment, but I may get one after I finish Book 1.

Do all of you out there have a piece you were just dying to play when you began Alfred 1? BTMD, with it's nautical theme, led me to this... which I'd love to play as well as the guy in the video

I've spent a good amount of time here on the forums since I've first discovered it. This site has become one of the routine sites to check if I'm ever on the internet, which is quite often. lol.

I just got to Blow The Man Down and I have to say the difficulty jumped a bit from the other pieces before it, but I managed to play it up to speed with PianoNoobAlex's video. Just have to give me a couple tries before I do though. lol. Will be looking forward to The Entertainer when I get there.

By chance anyone learning any other pieces external from the book on the side?

Oh and welcome newcomers. It was the same for me. Casually read all if not most of the posts and here I am, contributing to the cause. lol

I think I'm not intimidated by BTMD because I haven't tried to play it properly yet -- I probably just have no idea what I'm really in for. You know, "ignorance is bliss" and all that.

In fact, I may never even get to it. I still have to get used to the middle C position and work out "Good Morning to You" without using the wrong thumb at the wrong time. At the rate I'm going, I might be stuck on this for the rest of my life.

Well, I had my second lesson last night. It was great!!!! I played the pieces from G position to 'Why am I blue', which I am still working on, and I got pass on all of them, apart that my legato in lullaby wasn't perfect, so I am to work on this one for a bit longer. I don't mind, as I really love it. (I think there was something else I am supposed to keep working on, but I can't remember!!!! I have a mark in the book though, so will check tonight)

We started off the lesson at an acoustic piano, and I couldn't play it!!!! It was sounding so weird! It was a Kemble, and I really didn't like the sound of it. Good thing she also had Yamaha digital one, so we moved to that one after few minutes and from there it all went very well. Also, the digitla piano is set to quite loud volume level, and it is throwing me off a bit, as I am not a 'loud music type person', but I will get used to that. At least it sounds more like my piano... (which is... Yamaha digital!)

I asked for some Christmas tunes, so I should be getting them in my next lesson.

Well, I have just ordered book No2. I know, I won't need it for a long while, but as I need to place and order online for some manuscript (for the lessons), adding the book as well meant free delivery!

fanatik, I've pretty much learned the first piece," Bach's Minuet", from "My First Book of Classical Music". Simplified arrangements, but quite challenging if you are in Alfred 1. Inexpensive book, only $6.00 in Canada.

I still have to get used to the middle C position and work out "Good Morning to You" without using the wrong thumb at the wrong time.

Yeah, Good Morning to You is slightly deceiving because it *looks* trivial but I found two tricky bits... using the correct thumb is one, and the other is the last few measures where you play a series of notes legato connected from left hand to right hand and back to left and the hand that isn't playing the legato has to play normally. Overall it's not a terrible song but it tricks you because it looks so simple. I had to just play SLOW and speed it up over time...

Is this Alfred series highly recommended? I am about 3/4 of the way through Book One. I must say that there are many other songs and pieces I'd rather be learning but I'm afraid I might get off-track by learning totally on my own without some kind of structure. Are there other books that are recommended other than Alfred? Is Alfred the best series out there?